Lens for European trip and wedding

This is my first post here, my apologies if these types of post should be elsewhere, or are not welcome at all.

In the summer, I'm going on a trip to Europe. We'll be going to London, Paris, Rome, Venice. Not our first time there for my wife and I, but will be the first for our 6 year old. We'll cap the trip off with a wedding we are attending in Venice.

We have a E-PL5 and also a Canon T1i. I'm thinking of only bringing the E-PL5, but wondering what lenses to buy and take with us. After some debate, I've narrowed it down to either the Olympus 12-40 Pro or the combination of the Panny 25mm (f/1.4 or f/1.8) for general walk-around and site seeing, and the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 for the actual wedding.

I'm leaning towards the two primes, if I can find a good price for them, as the 12-40 would be more expensive. I also want the speed of the primes for indoor shots at museums and at the wedding.

There's just no way I'd be visiting all those locations with a 25mm as my widest lens. So taking JUST the 25mm and 45mm would be a major no-no for me. If you take your two zooms, the 9mm for superwide if needed, and then add a single prime for low light, I think you'll be in good shape. I'd probably go with the 25mm f1.8 myself.

If you just want to take 1-2 lenses, then one of the 12-xx f2.8 zooms makes a lot of sense.

There's just no way I'd be visiting all those locations with a 25mm as my widest lens. So taking JUST the 25mm and 45mm would be a major no-no for me. If you take your two zooms, the 9mm for superwide if needed, and then add a single prime for low light, I think you'll be in good shape. I'd probably go with the 25mm f1.8 myself.

If you just want to take 1-2 lenses, then one of the 12-xx f2.8 zooms makes a lot of sense.

What lenses do you have for the Canon?

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For Canon I have the nifty fifty, Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5, a Tamron 70-300, and the kit lens. I typically use the Sigma for most of my shots. It does quite well indoor, especially if I bounce the flash.

It would be nice to bring everything but don't really want to carry too much. Aiming to bring one or two lenses plus the body cap 9mm.

My wife is in London at the moment with her E-M10, O25 & O45 plus her 14-43EZ. She did not want to take the 12-40. I would take the O17, O45, and either the 12-40 or O75; leaning for the O75 for the wedding.

For Canon I have the nifty fifty, Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5, a Tamron 70-300, and the kit lens. I typically use the Sigma for most of my shots. It does quite well indoor, especially if I bounce the flash.

It would be nice to bring everything but don't really want to carry too much. Aiming to bring one or two lenses plus the body cap 9mm.

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Well to be honest, I think the T1i and 17-70 + 50mm f1.8 makes as much sense as any of the m4/3 kits you have proposed and wouldn't require any new purchases. I used to shoot Canon before I switched to m4/3, so I am familiar with that gear. 17-70 covers 28-105mm equivalent and the aperture is relatively fast, especially at the wide end for interiors, so it is very useful. The 45mm f1.8 for Olympus is lot better lens overall than the 50mm f1.8, but I'm sure you know the nifty fifty can deliver some great stuff.

Now if you want to start moving toward m4/3 as a replacement for Canon, then perhaps selling off a lot of that gear (sadly not worth that much) and use it towards replacement lenses for m4/3 then it could make sense. Sadly we don't get those cool third-party zooms like the SIgma 17-70 for m4/3, so you'll have to compromise. You either get short zoom and f2.8 with the 12-35 or 12-40 or you get slow aperture and more range with the 12-50 or the recently announced Panasonic 12-60.

Hey tkbslc, I'm still quite happy with the Canon setup. Originally got the E-PL5 for my wife and for us to use when we don't want to lug around the DSLR. I'm thinking we'll move towards M43 for almost all of our photos - this trip will be a good gauge. Like you said, won't get much for my Canon gear, so will keep them all.

Yeah, I quite like the Sigma. At first, looked for an equivalent in M43, but like you said, not much in terms of 3rd party.

Hey tkbslc, I'm still quite happy with the Canon setup. Originally got the E-PL5 for my wife and for us to use when we don't want to lug around the DSLR. I'm thinking we'll move towards M43 for almost all of our photos - this trip will be a good gauge. Like you said, won't get much for my Canon gear, so will keep them all.

Yeah, I quite like the Sigma. At first, looked for an equivalent in M43, but like you said, not much in terms of 3rd party.

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Well in terms of "lugging" kits around, once you add a larger lens to the E-PL5, and compare it to a smaller DSLR zoom like the 17-70, there isn't a massive difference: Compact Camera Meter

Of course if you took the m4/3 kit lens and a small prime or two, then there is a big size savings, but you'll be swapping lenses: Compact Camera Meter

You may not consider the 14-42 and 40-150 R to be sterling lenses, but they are certainly far from bad. You have the 9mm BCL. I think maybe the only gap you have is a fast prime. So maybe a fast one from 12 - 20 might be a good addition, and could work for scenery as well as buildings and street scenes. I had both a 12-40 and a PL5 at one time (still have the 12-40) and its a fantastic lens, but also rather bulky for the PL5. I never did mount the 12-40 on the PL5 to test it. Didn't seem like a good match and I wasn't curious enough to do that. :-(

Nonetheless, if the wedding is indoors and there is enough lighting, the 45 or 75 f1.8 lenses would work well. The 40-150 R would work fine if it's outdoors in daylight.

I had my 12-40mm on my e-pl6 at one time (as a backup body). It really is a little bulky for that and I seem to be one of the few who doesn't find this lens a problem on my em5ii with no extra grip. On the em10 I could even get away with out a grip although it was a little touch and go.

Get a flash

You mentioned museum shots which seems like a great excused for a good IBIS system.

12-40mm is a good option, but I'm afraid E-PL5 will be to small for it to be a comfortable, balanced, match. At least an E-M10 with grip would be my recommendation if you want to go for the zoom.

My main setup, and I think would work for this, is just taking two small bodies with two small primes: E-M10 with 17/1.8 and E-PL7 with 45/1.8. I have the E-M10 on a neck strap and use it for most of the situations on a city walk (don't forget streets in Europe are narrower, 25mm would be very tight for me).

Then, if I want a portrait of my kids (that don't wait for me to change lenses on a good mood) or if I see some other scene that requires a bit more FL, the 45mm is readily available (on the bag) on the E-PL7 with a wrist strap.

The weight of two bodies takes a bit of the m43 advantage on this area, but one is on the front and the other on the back, I hardly notice any.

You may not consider the 14-42 and 40-150 R to be sterling lenses, but they are certainly far from bad. You have the 9mm BCL. I think maybe the only gap you have is a fast prime. So maybe a fast one from 12 - 20 might be a good addition, and could work for scenery as well as buildings and street scenes. I had both a 12-40 and a PL5 at one time (still have the 12-40) and its a fantastic lens, but also rather bulky for the PL5. I never did mount the 12-40 on the PL5 to test it. Didn't seem like a good match and I wasn't curious enough to do that. :-(

Nonetheless, if the wedding is indoors and there is enough lighting, the 45 or 75 f1.8 lenses would work well. The 40-150 R would work fine if it's outdoors in daylight.

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I'm probably leaning away from the 12-40, mainly due to my budget. Will be one to consider if/when I upgrade the E-PL5.

I had my 12-40mm on my e-pl6 at one time (as a backup body). It really is a little bulky for that and I seem to be one of the few who doesn't find this lens a problem on my em5ii with no extra grip. On the em10 I could even get away with out a grip although it was a little touch and go.

Get a flash

You mentioned museum shots which seems like a great excused for a good IBIS system.

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I do like shooting with a flash - have done so with my Canon setup. Controlling the light really makes up for not having a fast lens.

12-40mm is a good option, but I'm afraid E-PL5 will be to small for it to be a comfortable, balanced, match. At least an E-M10 with grip would be my recommendation if you want to go for the zoom.

My main setup, and I think would work for this, is just taking two small bodies with two small primes: E-M10 with 17/1.8 and E-PL7 with 45/1.8. I have the E-M10 on a neck strap and use it for most of the situations on a city walk (don't forget streets in Europe are narrower, 25mm would be very tight for me).

Then, if I want a portrait of my kids (that don't wait for me to change lenses on a good mood) or if I see some other scene that requires a bit more FL, the 45mm is readily available (on the bag) on the E-PL7 with a wrist strap.

The weight of two bodies takes a bit of the m43 advantage on this area, but one is on the front and the other on the back, I hardly notice any.

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That sounds ideal, but I wouldn't be getting another body any time soon. Did consider bringing the DSLR and the PL-5 with me, but will bring only one body.

A bit of an update. Found a deal here on the buy & sell forums for both a 25 and 45. When they arrive, I'll test them out in different situations. I'll go for a walk in my city playing tourist and see if I like using only the 25 for site seeing.

Thanks for the links, I've never seen that tool before. I think I'm leaning towards the primes, but bringing the kit lens shouldn't be too much added weight/bulk.

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A bit of an update. Found a deal here on the buy & sell forums for both a 25 and 45. When they arrive, I'll test them out in different situations. I'll go for a walk in my city playing tourist and see if I like using only the 25 for site seeing.

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Definitely bring the kit lens along if there is any doubt. Keep in mind that many European cities are very tightly packed with narrow streets, hence the wide angle concerns.

As much as I like the various primes I have, for a vacation where I expect to be photographing anything and everything and not always knowing what that might be, I couldn't imagine travelling without a general purpose wide angle zoom. In the past it was always the ZD 12-60 even after I got the E-M1 and last summer I finally bought into the micro-4/3rds lens world with a Panny 12-35/2.8. The Panny took the vast majority of my shots. I also brought along my 17/1.8 mounted on my infrared converted E-P2 thinking I might switch them up, but for the most part the 17/1.8 stayed on the IR-E-P2 and the Panny stayed with the E-M1. The other two lenses I brought along were the 9mm fish eye body cap lens and the 40-150mm (non-Pro).

I have a 50-200mm as my main long zoom, but it is not a light or compact traveler. So I picked up the 40-150mm to have an ultralight compact zoom for when I wanted it but not a big deal if it didn't get used much since it is so light weight. I brought it knowing it would only be needed for a few specific times where I would be shooting outdoors, during the day, like on the boat ride from the mainland to an island.

And the 9mm fisheye lens is barely larger than a lens cap and a lot of fun to play around with so also adds almost nothing to bulk nor weight of your travel kit, so worth bringing even if little used.

Had I not had the second IR converted body, I might have left the 17/1.8 at home and I think would have been perfectly happy with the 12-35/2.8, 40-150mm (non-Pro), and the Fisheye Body cap lens.